Suffering (고)

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Suffering
[All Experience Is Suffering]고통(고)

The first problem Buddha realized was
that life is full of suffering. Suffering (dukkha) is any state wherein things
do not go as one wants or expects. Birth is suffering, and so is ageing.
Sickness is suffering, and so is death. These four things (birth, ageing,
sickness and death) are referred to as the four kinds of suffering. In
addition, separation from that which we love is suffering and so is association
with that which we hate. Inability to fulfill our desires is suffering and so
is the instability of the five attachments. These four kinds of psychological
suffering, together with the aforementioned four, are called the eight kinds of
suffering. The saying "Nirvana is bliss” is the counterpart to the saying
"All experience is suffering” which is the state of those people who have
not attained liberation and are dominated by craving and attachment.

Penetrating with clear insight that

All compound phenomena are suffering

You leave suffering far behind.

This is the way human beings become pure.

-Theragatha 677

- excerpt from Buddhist English (Elementary 2) published in 2014 by the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism​​​